Bilt Obsidian Card

The Middle Bilt Card: Real Bonus Categories Plus Housing Points

Annual Fee $95 ($50 per authorized user)

Earning Rate 3x on your choice of dining OR groceries (groceries capped at $25,000/year) • 2x travel • 1x everything else • up to 1.25x rent & mortgage with no transaction fee and no cap • Rent Day: 2x everyday spend on the 1st

Welcome Bonus $200 in Bilt Cash when you apply and are approved — no spending requirement

Card Material Metal World Elite Mastercard • issued by Column N.A., powered by Cardless

Apply for Bilt Obsidian Card →

Practical Recommendation

Obsidian is the middle card in Bilt's lineup, which launched in February 2026 alongside Blue ($0) and Palladium ($495). It costs $95 a year and it is the closest thing to a replacement for the old Wells Fargo Bilt Mastercard that people actually liked. The pitch is simple: you get real bonus categories on top of the housing stuff, instead of a flat 1x on everything.

The category that matters is 3x on either dining or groceries. You pick one at account opening and you are locked into it for the calendar year, so choose based on where your money actually goes. If you pick groceries, the 3x stops after $25,000 of grocery spend and drops to 1x. Travel earns 2x, and everything else earns 1x. Add the $100 annual hotel credit and the $95 fee is covered before you count a single point — assuming you book a two-night hotel stay through Bilt's travel portal twice a year, which is the catch.

Housing is where Bilt gets complicated, and it is the same on all three cards. You choose one of two modes. Housing-Only Rewards pays up to 1.25x on rent or mortgage, but the multiplier depends on how much you charge elsewhere that month: roughly 0.5x if your other spending is 25% of your housing payment, 0.75x at 50%, 1x at 75%, and the full 1.25x at 100% or more. Bilt Cash mode instead pays you 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend, and $30 of that Bilt Cash converts into 1,000 points on a housing payment. You can switch modes, but the change takes effect the following billing cycle.

Bottom line: Obsidian earns its $95 if you eat out or buy groceries in volume and will use the hotel credit. The housing rewards are a bonus, not the reason to get it — they only pay off if you already run most of your budget through the card. If you spend lightly, drop to Blue and keep the $95. If you fly enough that a Priority Pass membership and a $400 hotel credit change the math, look at Palladium instead.

Credits

Practical Advice

This is what makes or breaks a card for you. If you can use these credits in your normal spend, the perks and protections are all bonus for you. We have a calculator at the bottom of this section to help you calculate that. Below we break down exactly what every credit is to show you if it's easy or if they're going to make you jump through 17 hoops to redeem it.

$100 Bilt Travel Hotel Credit – Up to $100 per calendar year toward hotel bookings made through the Bilt Travel portal, delivered as two separate $50 statement credits (up to $50 January–June and up to $50 July–December). Each booking has to be a two-night minimum stay. This is the whole reason the $95 fee is defensible, but only if you actually take two hotel trips a year and are willing to book them through Bilt rather than direct. Compare the portal price against booking direct before you commit — a $50 credit does not cover a $90 worse rate, and booking through a portal usually means you forfeit hotel elite benefits and stay credit.

Click Here to Calculate Your Annual Fee

Credit

Include

Your Value

Practical Tip

You can edit the amounts in the number fields if you value a credit at less than the full value. For example, if you only book one qualifying hotel stay a year instead of two, value the hotel credit at $50 instead of $100.

Bilt Travel Hotel Credit

What It Is:	Up to $100 per calendar year in statement credits on hotel stays booked through the Bilt Travel portal, split into two up to $50 halves (Jan–Jun and Jul–Dec).
How It Works:	Book a qualifying hotel of at least two nights through Bilt Travel, pay with the card, and up to $50 posts back as a statement credit for that half of the year.
Gotchas:	Two-night minimum on every booking; semi-annual windows do not roll over; portal bookings usually forfeit hotel elite benefits and stay credit, and the portal rate is not always the best rate.
Who Actually Benefits:	Anyone who takes at least one two-night hotel trip in each half of the year and does not care about hotel status.
Practical Value:	Covers the annual fee on its own if you travel twice a year; worth $0 if you only book direct or never stay two nights.

Include:

Your Value:

Annual Fee: $95

Your Credits: $0

YOUR Annual Fee: $95

This is effectively what you are paying for this card. It is now up to you if the perks, protections, and earning rates are worth this fee to you over other cards.

Perks

3x on dining OR groceries — your pick – Choose one category and earn 3 points per dollar on it. Limits & catches: you select once and it holds for the calendar year, and if you choose groceries the bonus stops after $25,000 of grocery spend and reverts to 1x. Dining has no stated cap. Why care: this is the single biggest reason to pay $95 instead of carrying the free Blue card.
2x on travel, 1x on everything else – Flights, hotels, and other travel purchases earn double. Booking hotels and flights through Bilt Travel pushes those higher (roughly 4x hotels, 3x flights). Everything outside a bonus category earns 1x.
Rent AND mortgage, no transaction fee – Pay housing through Bilt and skip the usual 2–3% processing fee. Mortgages count now, multiple properties are supported, and the old 100,000-point annual cap is gone. Limits & catches: the payment is pulled from your bank by ACH rather than charged to the card, so it does not count as everyday spend.
Up to 1.25x on housing (Housing-Only Rewards mode) – Your housing multiplier scales with how much you charge elsewhere in the same billing cycle: about 0.5x if you spend 25% of your housing payment, 0.75x at 50%, 1x at 75%, and the full 1.25x at 100% or more. Limits & catches: in this mode you give up Bilt Cash earning.
Or 4% back in Bilt Cash (Bilt Cash mode) – Instead of the housing tiers, earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. $30 of Bilt Cash converts into 1,000 points applied to a housing payment, with no limit on how often you do it. Limits & catches: Bilt Cash expires December 31 each year and only up to $100 rolls over. You can switch between the two modes, but the change takes effect the next billing cycle.
Point Accelerators – Spend $200 of Bilt Cash to add an extra 1x on your next $5,000 of everyday purchases. You can do this up to five times a year. Why care: a way to turn Bilt Cash into points if you are not using it on housing.
Rent Day double points – On the 1st of each month, earn 2x on everyday purchases (1,000 bonus-point monthly cap), currently confirmed through January 1, 2027. Why care: an easy way to front-load a month's spend.
Bilt Neighborhood & dining offers (stackable) – Extra points at tens of thousands of participating merchants, restaurants, and fitness studios when you pay with a card linked in the Bilt app. Partner restaurants can reach roughly 6x when stacked with the 3x dining category. Limits & catches: offers vary by merchant, city, and status.
Point transfers (1:1) to 23 partners – Move points to airlines and hotels, including United MileagePlus, Alaska Atmos Rewards, and World of Hyatt. Why care: travel redemptions can beat 1¢-per-point cash values by a wide margin.
Free rent reporting to credit bureaus – Bilt reports your housing payments, which can help a thin credit file.
No foreign transaction fees – Spend abroad without the usual ~3% penalty. Authorized users cost $50 each.

Protections

Cellular wireless telephone protection – Pay your monthly wireless bill with the card and get up to $800 per claim and $1,000 per 12 months (max 2 claims, $50 deductible) for a damaged or stolen phone. Why care: can replace a separate phone insurance line item.
Rental car collision coverage – Decline the rental agency's damage waiver and pay with the card for coverage on theft or collision damage. Obsidian's World Elite package is a meaningful step up from what Blue carries. Why care: saves you the daily waiver fee on rentals.
Trip cancellation and interruption – Reimburses non-refundable trip costs, generally up to $2,000 per trip, when a covered reason cuts a trip short or stops it before it starts. Why care: this is the coverage Blue does not have at all.
Trip delay reimbursement – Covers reasonable meal and lodging expenses when a covered trip is delayed long enough to trigger the benefit. Why care: turns an airline meltdown into an expense you do not eat yourself.
Lost or damaged luggage protection – Coverage for checked and carry-on bags that are lost or damaged in transit, generally up to $1,500. Why care: airlines rarely make you whole on their own.
Purchase assurance – Covers eligible new purchases for 90 days against theft or damage, up to $1,000 per loss and $50,000 per cardholder per year. Why care: useful on electronics and furniture.
Mastercard ID Theft Protection – Monitoring and resolution help if your identity is misused. Enrollment required.